Yahoo Shares Fall Even After It Reports Stronger Than Expected Q4 Results

There’s something in the filing that’s making investors anxious. Yahoo shares are down more than 4% in post-market trading even though, on its face, the company’s Q4 results either matched or exceeded the Street’s expectations. On an as-reported basis, net income came in at $351.7M, +87.1%, on revenues of $1.26B, -6%. Without traffic acquisition costs, revenue came in at $1.2B, -2%. Analysts expected revenues of $1.2B. Adjusted earnings at 46 cents a share topped forecasts for 38 cents. It’s clear why CEO Marissa Mayer recently dumped COO Henrique de Castro after seeing the anemic ad sales number for the quarter. Not including traffic acquisition costs, display ads fell 6%to $491M. Although the number of ads sold increased 3% vs the same period last year, the price per ad fell 7%. Search revenue was up 8% to $461M with a 17% increase in paid clicks somewhat offset by a 3% drop in the price per click. “I’m encouraged by Yahoo’s performance in Q4 and 2013 overall,” Mayer says. “We saw continued stability in the business, and our investments allowed us to bring beautiful products to our users and establish a strong foundation for revenue growth.”